Rolando Romero out, Gervonta Davis to face Isaac Cruz on December 5th

Two days after news broke that Rolando Romero would “likely” be pulled from his December 5th fight with Gervonta Davis due to numerous accusations of sexual assault, a Showtime spokesman has officially confirmed “Rolly’s” exit. Mike Coppinger reports that IBF #2 contender Isaac Cruz has agreed to step in, though nothing has yet been announced.

This is honestly about as good a replacement as you could find on a month’s notice. “Pitbull” (22-1-1, 15 KO) was already in line for a shot at Teofimo Lopez and boasts the grit, aggression, and willingness to get egregiously dirty that Davis (25-0, 24 KO) has yet to encounter in his pro career. His 53-second annihilation of Diego Magdaleno and arguably disqualification-worthy performance against Francisco Vargas are testament to that.

Not saying that the mega-punching Davis shouldn’t be a comfortable favorite, just that Cruz is a hell of a lot more interesting than your average late-notice replacement, even if the fight does lack the deeply personal flavor of the original matchup. I’m down to watch two vicious little buggers go at it.